Quake
by KepnerAvery
Summary: In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, Stephanie finds herself in an impossible position. The fate of another doctor's life lies in her hands as she battles her inner demons. Set post 10x13. Stephanie centric with mentions of Japril.
1. Chapter 1

"Dr. Edwards, I am demanding that you get out of there right now."

Chief Hunt's voice echoed against the walls of the room, the vibrations seeming to bounce off the collapsed heap of shelves and hit Stephanie square in the gut. As her arms shook with exhaustion, and her back ached from the repetitive motion of giving compressions, she tried to ignore this new pain.

"Dr. Edwards, I mean it. They're predicting aftershocks and the building isn't structurally sound."

These words hit harder, and Stephanie struggled to swallow back tears. It was all she could do to not imagine what aftershocks might mean. The initial quake had done more damage than she ever would have predicted, and the idea that things could get worse was more terrifying than she could handle.

Her body was trying to give up on her. Every movement was agony, every breath shorter than the last. To give up and get out would be such sweet salvation. But underneath her fingers she could still feel her patient's skin, and underneath that her heart trying so hard to beat on its own, her lungs aching for air. Even if Stephanie did think it was a lost cause there was some part of her that had fused her to this woman, and she wasn't willing to give up.

"If I stop, she dies." Stephanie said, pausing her compressions to tilt the patient's head and force a breath down her airway. With the hand she wasn't using to pinch her patient's nose, she felt desperately for a pulse.

There was none.

"You've done everything you can do. I know this is hard, but it's time to let her go."

Despite his efforts to hide it, Stephanie could pick up on the crack in Hunt's voice even from across the room. Like her body, he was trying to give up. Trying to make her stop. And it was so tempting. Her head was starting to spin and for a moment she let herself think of how nice it would be to walk away, to crawl through the rubble and collapse at Hunt's feet, to be carried away to rest somewhere safe.

"There's nothing else you can do for her. It's too dangerous for the emergency crews to try and clear this mess to get to her when we still have aftershocks to worry about. You need to get yourself out of there before it's too late."

It would be so easy to stop. So easy to give up. So easy to let her die.

Then her eyes fell on April's face, still contorted with the fear she had felt in her last moments of consciousness, her red hair stuck to a cut on her forehead that had left a streak of blood across her pale skin. Stephanie had always found her strangely intimidating, but now she was completely vulnerable. The only thing keeping April alive was the steady beat of Stephanie's hands against her crushed chest.

If she were to stop, to give in to her body's aches and Owen's pleas, it would be over. In a matter of moments April's organs would be starved for oxygenated blood, and she would die. It would be quick, she'd never wake up to know it was happening, she wouldn't feel any pain. One moment she would be alive, and the next she would be dead. All Stephanie had to do was stop compressions.

It would be so easy.

"Dr. Edwards, I need you to give me some kind of response so I know you're still with me."

Stephanie drew in a breath as the tears she had been suppressing finally broke free, dripping from her cheeks down onto her tired hands.

"I won't leave her here to die."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey all, thanks for the great response to the first chapter. My uploads might be kind of infrequent because I'm really busy with school and dance and things, but I'll do my best not to make it too long in between uploads. Anyways, the chapters switch back and forth between the current action and the events leading up to the first chapter, so this chapter takes place earlier in the day.**

"I can't believe we've been down here for two hours and all I've had are sutures."

Stephanie dropped her latest file on the nurses' station in frustration as Leah looked up at her from where she sat behind the desk flipping through a medical journal.

"It's a slow day, why are you complaining? This almost never happens."

She didn't have a good answer for that. Slow days in the ER were a rare treat, sure they meant possibly missing out on a surgery, but Stephanie knew from the OR board that there was nothing exciting scheduled for the day anyways. Jo was in on a Whipple, but as far as she knew the rest of the residents were stuck with scut and paperwork. In contrast, doing sutures in the ER was a treat.

"I just need to do something big," Stephanie said finally, "I don't care if it's a surgery or an emergency procedure I just want something exciting."

Leah shrugged, "Maybe something will come in?"

"Yeah right," she paused realizing that Leah's voice sounded strange for some reason, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's just a head cold. Anyways, you should try to look on the brightside."

"Which is?"

"At least the Mrs. Dr. Avery isn't here today."

Stephanie rolled her eyes at the sarcasm oozing out of her friend's mouth, but couldn't deny that it was a relief to not have April around. Her and Jackson flaunting their wedding rings and stupid married bliss had been annoying enough, but then after his mother had come for a visit April went and took Avery as her last name.

April Avery, Stephanie scoffed at the name. The alliteration wasn't "cute", as she had overheard Arizona Robbins describe it, it was sickening.

"This isn't the 1950s," Stephanie said, "I don't see why she couldn't have just kept her own name."

"As if you wouldn't milk the Avery name for all it was worth if you could."

For a long moment Stephanie stood speechless, trying to pretend she didn't feel like she had just been punched in the gut. She could remember a conversation with Jo once where she had admitted that even though she thought the rhyming "Stephanie Avery" sounded a little cutesy she would take it in a second if they ever got married.

"Oh," Leah cringed as she realized her mistake, "Steph I'm sorry."

"No it's fine," Stephanie lied, "That's probably why she ran off with him."

Leah's face dropped as she looked at something over her friend's shoulder, but Stephanie plowed on, unphased.

"She just wanted to be an Avery so everyone would forget that she failed her boards and ignore the fact that she's a mediocre surgeon."

"Great plan, huh? Seems to be working."

In that moment you could have heard a pin drop as Stephanie desperately tried to force her body to combust. The rising heat in her cheeks made her feel like she was on fire already, mortified by April's sudden appearance next to her at the nurse's station.

"Dr. Avery, I-"

"You know," April cut her off, "I think I saw the EMTs bringing in a kid with a messed up leg. Bed three, go."

It was all Stephanie could do to nod obligingly, only noticing that April was in street clothes when she overheard Leah telling her she didn't have the authority to tell them what to do on her day off. It was a fair point, but not one she was about to argue after what April had heard her say. Even if it was her day off April could still report Stephanie. The thought made her cringe- sure it had been a bitchy thing to say, but with the board tilted in April's favor it could be enough to get her suspended, or even fired, from the program.

As she reached bed three and prepared to handle the screaming child behind the curtain, Stephanie took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts of April Avery out of her mind. She wasn't worth worrying about now.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and follows! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. Here's the next chapter, set after the quake again.**

It came to the point where she had to tune out Owen's shouting. He had only started a few minutes ago, but to Stephanie it felt like an eternity with no end in sight. No one would come in to save her, it was too dangerous. She'd die in that supply closet, pumping April Avery's chest until her body gave out.

"You bitch," Stephanie snarled, surprising herself. She hadn't felt angry until that moment, but the floodgates had opened and she found herself furious.

"You don't get to die," she spat at April's prone figure, "I am saving your fucking life, you don't get to die."

Stephanie resisted the urge to push harder on April's chest, to feel the crack of her already injured rib cage beneath her hands. The fact that the thought was even there disgusted her. She was a doctor, and like it or not April was her patient. Every compression already risked causing more damage to her chest, too much pressure and she'd break. Literally break, by Stephanie's hands.

It could happen even by accident. Every compression was more difficult than the last, her shoulders sore and her own chest tight. At any moment she could slip, fall forward, end it all.

"Goddamit," Stephanie cried, her words a small but fierce whisper, "I am going to save your life. You are not going to die. If you die in here people will think I didn't try to save you, that I let you die because I have some kind of grudge against you. So you are not going to die, do you understand me?"

She leaned back, bracing one arm on the floor as she prepared to give another rescue breath. Though she wasn't expecting much, she moved the other to April's neck, feeling for a pulse.

For a single moment the world seemed to stop. Stephanie felt nothing, no more pain, no more anger, nothing. Her breath caught in her chest and tears she had forgotten she was holding back spilled out.

Then the world came crashing back, and the sounds of Owen's shouts filled her ears.

"Dr. Edwards, if you won't come out of there we're going to have to leave you, I'm sorry. It doesn't have to be like this. You can't help-"

"I have a pulse," Stephanie screamed back, cutting him off. "I have ROSC. I have her."

April didn't stir, but Stephanie kept her fingers glued to the spot in her neck where she could feel the pulse, clinging to it like a lifeline.

"What about pupillary response?" Owen called back after a short silence.

With her free hand Stephanie felt in the pocket of her lab coat for her penlight, remembering when she couldn't find it that she had changed out of her other lab coat after getting puked on and forgotten to empty the pockets.

"I don't have any way to check."

"Pain stimulus?"

Taking a deep breath, Stephanie brushed the hair out of April's face and pressed her thumb into the indentation between April's eye and nose. When she got no response she pressed harder, finally feeling her facial muscles react.

"I have a response!"

The tears came faster now as her own muscles began to unclench. As her adrenaline rush died out the pain returned, and she couldn't even keep herself upright. Carefully she lay next to April, never moving her fingers from her neck. April had arrested twice now, and the possibility that she would arrest again was too high to ignore.

"Alright," Owen called out finally. She had almost forgotten about him in her overwhelming pain and relief, "Stay with her. I'm going to find someone to help me get you both out of there."

"Okay," Stephanie's voice was so quiet she was sure he hadn't heard, but it made her feel better to respond anyways. As Owen left she could hear his feet pounding against the ground. He was running, good.

When the sounds of running drifted away the only thing left separating Stephanie from an all encompassing silence was April's gasping breath sounds. Her lungs were injured, that much was obvious, but to what extent Stephanie was unsure. Trapped behind fallen shelves and boxes she had no way to get what she needed to properly asses the injuries. All she could do was hope that April could hold on until Owen made it back.

"I swear to God," Stephanie whispered, "If you die now I am going to follow you into the afterlife and kick your ass back to Earth."

April did not respond.

"You don't get to run away with my boyfriend, marry him, and then die. Do you understand me? Life does not work like that. I did not go through all of this for you to die. Studies have shown that prolonged CPR can be effective for up to 38 minutes and that was not 38 minutes. You do not get to die. You do not get to be brain dead. I have done everything I can. You are going to live. You-"

Before Stephanie could finish her thought she felt the Earth begin to quiver below her.

Aftershocks.

Without thinking she rolled onto her hands and knees and placed her body gingerly over April's, protecting her from further harm as the quiver turned into a shake, and the fallen shelves began to rattle a loud metallic scream.

"You do not," Stephanie repeated, bracing herself as best she could, "get to die."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the late (and not so great) update. Life has been really busy. This is kind of a filler chapter, the good stuff is still yet to come.**

The "messed up leg" turned out to be a game of fetch gone horribly wrong. From what Stephanie could make out through the sobbing mother's tears the little boy had been playing with the family dog when the dog wouldn't release the stick. The boy then hit the dog, and in return got his left leg torn to shreds.

In the midst of cleaning the wound, paging Torres, and trying to decide if she should go with sutures or a skin graft, Stephanie found that she had no time to worry about what April was doing in the hospital on her day off.

Letting her mind focus solely on the tattered limb in front of her was actually a relief. For weeks all she had been able to think about was the new Mrs. Dr. Avery. It was strange in a way, her anger with Jackson had come and gone. When she saw him in the hallways now it was easy to walk past without a second glance, even when he'd try to say hello.

But April was a different story. Technically she hadn't done anything to Stephanie. She hadn't asked Jackson to stand up at her wedding and declare his love for her. She'd merely answered honestly when he asked if she loved him too. And on some level Stephanie respected her for that, for not marrying Matthew when she knew she loved someone else, and for being so sure of it that she was willing to risk ruining all of her relationships with family and friends for a chance at true love. It was like something out of one of the romance novels she kept stashed under her bed for nights she couldn't fall asleep.

She just wished the beautiful woman who overcame her inner demons and won the guy had been her.

"Alright," Stephanie said to the mother after a few moments, "I'm going to start sewing your son's leg while we wait for the orthopedic surgeon, so if you'll excuse me for a moment I'll be right back."

The sobbing woman seemed to nod her head in understanding as Stephanie slipped out of the area to get a suture kit, nearly crashing into Leah.

"Jeez, what happened to him?" Leah asked, craning her neck to get a glimpse of Stephanie's patient through the curtains.

"He decided to hit the family dog, and the family dog didn't like that very much," Stephanie replied with a sigh. She frowned, realizing that Leah was carrying her belongings with her, "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah," Leah rolled her eyes, "Avery heard me coughing and told me that if I didn't go home she'd get Hunt involved and tell him I'm risking patients' well being by being sick."

"What is she even doing here?" Stephanie asked, headed towards the supply closet.

"Meeting up with the other Dr. Avery for lunch apparently."

"Of course she is."

Leah rolled her eyes in solidarity, stopping in front of the supply closet with Stephanie and sighing,

"They should have a rule about coming in on your day off. Like, you shouldn't be able to do it if you're just going to come harass other doctors who are actually trying to work."

"I wish,"Stephanie laughed, "Anyways I need to grab a suture kit and get back to my patient. I'll see you back at the apartment tonight?"

"Okay, see you later."

As Leah continued down the hallway in the direction of the locker room Stephanie turned and walked into the supply closet, not yet noticing the sound of someone crying quietly inside.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow sorry this took me forever and is kind of a mess. **

At first, Stephanie couldn't feel the pain.

She was so focused on protecting April's body from the falling debris that when a piece landed on her she shook it off like water off a duck's back. Even as her vision started to blot with dark clouds she merely blinked them away, focusing all of her energy on watching for the rise and fall of April's chest among the shaking of the ground.

It was only when the shaking stopped and the Earth was steady beneath her knees that her right arm gave out beneath her and she cried out in agony. Bursts of pain radiated from her shoulder blade as she rolled on her side to stop herself from collapsing on top of April.

"Oh god," she moaned, "Oh my god."

With her good arm she reached back to April's neck, making sure to locate her pulse before finally shutting her eyes against her growing headache.

"You can't arrest again," she whispered hopelessly, "Because I can't perform CPR if you do."

As April continued with her rhythmic gasps for air, Stephanie found herself reminded of the way her younger sister used to cry in the same gaspy way before bed every night when they were little.

It was always something. She was either thirsty, or hungry, or not tired, not feeling well- the list went on and on. So she'd gasp and cry until their mother would come in and sing her to sleep. Always the same lullaby, over and over. Did she even know another lullaby? Stephanie's mind grew foggy, and she could hear her mother's voice in her head.

Rock a bye baby

"Alright Dr. Edwards we're coming in!" Owen's voice called out from the doorway.

On the tree top

The clattering of shelves and boxes being pushed aside made Stephanie's head throb. She focused on April's gasping breaths.

When the wind blows

"Dr. Edwards, are you still with us?"

The cradle will rock

Owen's voice was closer now, almost there.

When the bough breaks

Suddenly, the gasping stopped. Stephanie's mind reeled as she jerked back to reality. Beneath her fingers April's pulse was slowing to a stop.

"NO!"

Despite the throbbing in her temples, despite feeling like she was going to throw up, and despite the fact that every time she moved her arm it felt like someone was sawing into her shoulder and back, she found herself back on her knees performing compressions again.

Every time she pressed on April's chest she screamed, unable to control the pain in her arm. It took everything in her power to keep going, to keep her arm from collapsing under her.

Then, just when she didn't think she could take it anymore, everything seemed to happen at once.

"Oh my god, it's April. Hunt, it's April!"

"What?"

Derek pulled Stephanie off of April as Owen took over compressions and Alex stood back, staring at the scene.

"You have to save her!" Stephanie cried, clawing at Derek's arms around her waist.

"We are, we're going to save her" he said, taking Stephanie's face in one hand and examining her pupils, "Did you get hit on the head?"

"I brought her back twice," Stephanie mumbled as everything started to get fuzzy again, "Her lungs… might be punctured, probably punctured..."

"Pupils are dilated," Derek said to Alex and Owen, "No obvious injury but I don't want to risk it, I'm taking her out. Can you two get April?"

"I had her… I brought her back..."

"We've got her Shepherd, get Edwards out of here."

Stephanie was too weak to protest as Derek lifted her into his arms and carried her through the wreckage and out of the supply closet.

"She had a pain response..."

"I know, you did a good job. You brought her back. And now Hunt and Karev are taking care of her. Can you tell me what happened to you? Where did you hit your head?"

Before Stephanie could reply they were stepping out into the light and she groaned in pain, shutting her eyes and begging whatever higher power there might be to let her lose consciousness. There were voices everywhere, some talking, some shouting.

"Derek!" that one she recognized as Meredith,

"Meredith, I need you to find Avery. It wasn't Leah Murphy, it was April."

Leah? With her last strands of consciousness Stephanie felt a tight panic rising in her chest.

"What? How-"

"I don't know, but she arrested again. Hunt and Karev are in there with her, but you need to go find Jackson. I'm going with Stephanie in the rig."

"But where's Leah?"

"I don't know."


End file.
